The national government has rolled out free internet at the recently refurbished Sh460 million Mama Ngina Waterfront Park in Mombasa.
On Friday, the ICT Principal Secretary Jerome Ochieng said the project will play a critical role in marketing Mombasa to the world and offer students space to carry out online studies using unlimited internet connectivity.
The Wi-Fi connection project, which was commissioned in October, covers the entire park and can accommodate up to 3,000 people logged in at the same time.
Speaking when he toured the park, Ochieng said the ICT ministry is focused on developing the digital economy, where people can trade online.
“By investing in the digital platform, we offer the youth the opportunity to explore the digital space to create employment for them,” he said.
He added that the programme will also offer an opportunity for cultural exchange between Kenyans and other people from the rest of the world by enabling online sharing of photos and videos explaining the different cultural aspects in the country.
“Apart from promoting online trading, the Mama Ngina public internet will provide us with the platform to showcase our different cultural heritage through sharing photos and videos about our diverse cultural backgrounds,” Ochieng said.
So far, the ICT ministry has developed ICT hubs in 108 constituencies countrywide, with more expected to be developed soon.
The internet connection is done by the Djibouti Africa Regional Express -1 (DARE-1) submarine cables, which offers diversity and a shorter latency connectivity from Mombasa to Djibouti with a branch in Somalia.
The DARE-1 submarine cables offer speeds of up to 36 terabits per second which are currently the highest in the country.
“This enables the ICT industry in the country to have robust internet connectivity and ensures more options are available for Telcos and internet service providers to extend internet services in the country,” Ochieng said.
The PS also toured the Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital which is one of the public hospitals in the country enjoying enhanced connectivity from National optic Fiber Backbone Infrastructure and last mile County Connectivity Project being implemented by the ministry.
The PS reaffirmed the government’s commitment to improving the provision of health services in the field of telemedicine among other services through the use of technology.
Mombasa county ICT chief officer Anwar Ahmed said the internet programme had greatly improved the provision of online service delivery.
“Through the internet connected at Coast General, we have greatly improved medical service delivery among other services in line with the governments Universal Health Care programme,” he said.
-Edited by SKanyara
